Lessons from a Caterpillar

Good Morning,

Carl gets up hungry every morning.  All he wants to do is get something to eat.  In fact, eating is all he thinks about. Carl is a caterpillar and he will shed his skin 4 or 5 times to make more room for the food his insatiable appetite demands. His appetite will cause him to destroy thousands of acres of crops and damage the economy of farming families. He leaves nothing of lasting worth behind. But a change is taking place in Carl from the inside that is calling him to stop eating and allow himself to be encapsulated in a cocoon that hardens around him. After several days Carl bursts out of his shell.  He has undergone a radical transformation. He is now a new creature, with new habits, and whole new outlook on life. Instead of destroying things, as a butterfly he now flies from plant to plant, pollinating flowers that make the world a more beautiful place.

Here’s the deal, we are all like caterpillars – we live to seek our own selfish and desires. It comes naturally to us.  And…we are quite good at it.

But that is not how we were meant to live.  The same growth and transformation that took place in Carl can, and should, take place in us.  According to 2 Cor. 5:17 we are a new creation in Christ.  We aren’t remodeled, refurbished or re-tooled.  We are re-created.  At our core, we are not who we used to be.  The old is gone and the new has come.

Does your life look new? Do your patterns of behavior, priorities, speech, use of your money, treatment of the barista, attitude toward the person at the DMV and handling of interruptions reflect that?

All these things require growth. And growth is a choice. A choice to grow makes you better and more impactful in the world around you.  A choice not to grow takes you backwards and leaves your influence diminished and you less relevant.   Fortunately for the Christ-follower this involves more than us trying hard.  We have a supernatural, divine power living in us – the Holy Spirit – that can fuel transformation.  We just need to choose to tap into it.  Have you done that?

For God is the One working in you both to will and to work according to His good pleasure. Phil. 2:13

Which version of Carl are you choosing to be this morning?

Live this week on purpose and seek peace,
Ron Klopfenstein